Laminated tubes are used for packaging across the globe in varied sectors such as oral care, food, cosmetics, pharma and industrial applications. Films used for the packaging of food generally contain multiple layers, in which each layer adds certain desired physical or chemical properties to the completed film. “Barrier” layer serve to protect the packaged product from physical stresses caused by the normal handling of the product during packaging, shipping, or during commercialization. In addition, a heat sealant layer may be utilized to bond films together to form packages for products, such as pharmaceutical or food products. Further, the combination of layers may allow for a film that has favorable physical properties, such as, for example, strength, stiffness, abrasion and chemical resistance.
One such layer that may be utilized as a barrier layer and to increase the toughness of films made therefrom is a layer comprising polyamide. Polyamide is a high molecular weight polymer having amide linkages along the molecular chain structure. Nylon polyamides, which are synthetic polyamides, have favorable physical properties of high strength, stiffness abrasion and chemical resistance.
It is, of course, generally known to provide multilayer polymeric films that may have high strength, stiffness, abrasion resistance and/or chemical. Many such films may have a barrier layer of ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer (EVOH). The exclusive use of ethylene-vinyl alcohol (EVOH) as the barrier layer increases the cost besides increasing the thickness of the layer in the laminate. The use of ethylene-vinyl alcohol (EVOH) sandwiched by layers comprising of nylon polyamide provide reduced core thickness, and also reduction in price. The barrier films made up of polyamide-ethylene-vinyl alcohol (EVOH)-polyamide combination, polyamide interferes with the flavor ingredient of the product.
The other barrier films generally known in the art are made up of thicker ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer (EVOH). Single ethylene-vinyl alcohol (EVOH) is although a good oxygen barrier but it is poor in aroma barrier, mechanical properties, poor UV resistance and much high cost.
Thus there is a need of a barrier film which has excellent aroma barrier, UV resistance, oxygen barrier and mechanical properties and economical also.